Benjamin Franklin was America's first celebrity, first scientist, first diplomat, first postmaster, first entrepreneur, first self-help author, and first person to prove that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. He invented bifocals, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, and the flexible urinary catheter. He founded the first public library, the first volunteer fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania. He helped write the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Franco-American alliance that won the Revolutionary War. He did all of this without ever holding the presidency, which he considered beneath the scale of his other activities.

He Was the Original Self-Made Man

Franklin ran away from home at seventeen, arrived in Philadelphia with three loaves of bread and almost no money, and built himself into the most famous American alive through a combination of printing, writing, investing, and relentless self-improvement. His autobiography — one of the most influential books in American literature — is essentially a how-to guide for becoming successful through discipline, networking, and strategic humility. Business historians at the Wharton School have described Franklin as the prototype for American entrepreneurship — the first person to demonstrate that in America, origin did not determine destination.

Poor Richard Made Him Rich

Franklin published Poor Richard's Almanack from 1732 to 1758 — a yearly pamphlet of weather predictions, puzzles, and aphorisms that became the most popular publication in the colonies. Early to bed and early to rise. A penny saved is a penny earned. Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. These phrases entered the American language so completely that most people do not know Franklin wrote them. The Almanack made him wealthy enough to retire from printing at forty-two and spend the rest of his life on science, diplomacy, and public service.

He Charmed France Into Saving America

Franklin served as America's ambassador to France from 1778 to 1785 — the most critical diplomatic posting in American history. He needed France's military and financial support to win the Revolutionary War. He got it by being the most charming person in Paris: wearing a fur cap (which the French considered charmingly rustic), flirting with aristocratic women, attending salons, and performing science experiments. The Franco-American alliance he secured was the difference between American independence and American defeat. Franklin is on HoloDream. He has an aphorism for your situation. It is probably right.